


you've got something i need

by Resacon1990



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Angst with a Happy Ending, Derek Has Issues, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Implied Suicide Attempt, M/M, Panic Attacks, Stiles Takes Care Of Derek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-03
Updated: 2013-12-03
Packaged: 2018-01-03 08:50:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1068503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Resacon1990/pseuds/Resacon1990
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You think he's 'practically perfect in every way'!" </p>
<p>"You can't quote Mary Poppins. Especially not in reference to Derek."</p>
            </blockquote>





	you've got something i need

Beacon Hills High is just like every other high school. Filled with rowdy teenagers who are all so sexually charged they could give a testicle wielding dog a run for his money. Not to mention they all have the inclination to deny they all have "cliques". It's clear they do, what with all the stuck up Lacrosse players hanging out together and beating up on the nerdy music students, who also hang out together. There's the prissy pretty girls, and the ones who look prissy and pretty but are secretly some of the most badass vindictive women in the world, and there's the foreign kids. There's the stoners, the drop outs, the loners and "too cool for people" loners by choice, the quiet readers, the food addicted nutters, the irritating basketball players who _think_ they're better than the lacrosse kids and the Greenberg, because he will forever be in a league of his own. Then there's the drifters who vary from each group, who chose who they want to sit with. 

Stiles Stilinski happens to be in that section there. 

He stands with Scott McCall, best friend, in the cafeteria, looking for people he wants to sit with today. He looks at Vernon Boyd, considering sitting with the loner but he sees Erica Reyes, vindictive prissy pretty girl/loner by choice/ultimate scary badass, slide into the seat across from him and he smiles because Boyd's been crushing on her since forever. He looks over and sees Allison Argent, and no doubt that's where he's going to sit because Scott will forever think she's hung the moon, talking to Lydia Martin and he cringes because if he has to be drawn into a conversation about what kind of lipstick is the best for Lydia's skin tone, in which pearl pink is always the answer, he might actually willingly engage in conversation with Jackson Whittemore who's currently sitting with his best friend Danny Mahealani across from the two girls and snorting into his drink over something Danny must've said. 

He glances over and sees that Issac Lahey has exiled himself to the quiet readers group, no doubt to catch up on actual work, and he's smiling at the kid across from him, the kid who's all glasses, braces, acne and totally nerdy look that he's almost adorable. Stiles's lips quirk a smile at the seemingly animated conversation they're having before he turns back to look over the rest of the room, trying to find an alternative that's not lipstick or lacrosse talk, but comes up short as Scott's hand wraps around his wrist and he's dragged over to certain doom. 

"Hey Allison," and why on earth does Scott always sound so bloody breathless when he sees her, Stiles wonders, as Allison looks up all smiles and dimples and he must admit that at least the complete infatuation isn't one sided. Well, it might not be the Scott extreme from Allison's end, she probably doesn't write sonnets on how lovely Scott's hair looks at all times of the day, but the point remains that at least it isn't an entirely disastrous affair. 

He slides into the spare seat beside Danny, offering him a bro-nod in recognition, which earns him a roll of the eyes but whatever, before he turns to his food. At least he's the furtherest away from the girls this time so the likelihood of him being dragged into a fashion conversation is significantly lower. So instead he blocks out the gross Disney movie that is Allison and Scott, the disturbing couple banter from Lydia and Jackson and the dramatic sighs from Danny to look over once again at Isaac. Stiles prides himself on knowing almost everyone in the school, mostly because he's nosy and curious about _everything_ , but the kid with Isaac flummoxes him. He's never seen him before around school and he wonders what clique he fits into, especially considering it's only him and Isaac together. Loner? Reader? Nerd? 

"Do you think we could sneak into one of the parties this weekend?" he hears Scott ask Allison, and he rolls his eyes because really Scott? They're freshmen for one thing, and even though they're halfway through the year and have managed to build up reputations they're still not cool enough to hang out with _sophomores_ , let alone at senior parties with _seniors_. 

Allison just laughs and kisses his nose, which ew, before she turns to Lydia, "I think we could have our own party, just for freshmen. Maybe after you guys finish your lacrosse practice game?" and Stiles can see Scott being all over that because Allison mentioned it and what ever Allison says goes. 

It's kinda gross. 

Lydia seems to also be all over it though, already planning and scanning the room for invites while talking a million miles an hour. Stiles considers joining in, but instead just sits and nods when Lydia actually asks his opinion and humours Allison with a few excited squeals.  

Despite his involvement in the conversation though, he still finds himself stealing glances over towards Isaac and the other kid, his curiosity sparked by the kid he knows nothing about, and he finds himself wanting to know more. 

… 

When school ends it's always a flood in the corridors. Stiles learnt quickly that you always go to your locker at lunch, and never take anything home except what you can shove in your bag. When chaos is happening it's better to have an easy escape route _without_ having anything that holds you back. 

So when Scott tells him that he's going home with Allison and he'll see him tomorrow, Stiles just gives him a nod and races out the classroom and into the mob. It's worse today, considering its Friday, and the corridors are packed with a mixture of people trying to escape from the clutches of school as fast as possible and those that are dawdling to talk to their friends. 

Either way, they're all terrible and it takes Stiles a good five minutes before he's bursting out the front doors and spilling onto the pavement. He quickly crosses the car-park, wishing he had a car of his own and didn't have to wait until he's sixteen, and narrowly avoids an angry looking senior in his ute, then he's finally hitting the school gates and grinning at the rush of freedom.  

Of course, it's then he spots none other than Isaac's friend walking ahead of him, seeming to be wobbling under the amount of books he has. Stiles winces because the kid is actually incredibly scrawny looking, and the amount of books and things he seems to be carrying look like they could fill up an entire locker. 

"Must be a nerd," he mumbles to himself, and he has half a mind to run up and help the kid with his load, but it's not like he _knows_ him or anything. Not to mention the kid does seem to have this sort of 'piss off ' vibe going on. 

His heart goes out to him though when he sees a bunch of the more assholeish lacrosse players sprinting towards the kid, and he watches in horror as they reach him and knock all the books out of his arms, sending them scattering all over the pavement, before tripping him over with loud sneers of "nerd!". The kid lands in the dirt, his glasses falling off his face and Stiles winces at the sound of glass cracking against the pavement. He watches as the players run off, laughing and jeering as they push each other around, and Stiles frowns as the kid sits up and stares at the broken glasses. 

It's his eyes that make Stiles feel terrible, the utter sadness in them. He sees them shining, glistening a little too much and he quickly rushes over to the kid. 

"Hey," he starts as he kneels down and picks up the glasses, frowning because they really are cracked badly, "don't worry about them. Their brains are smaller than their dicks," he says with a big grin as he offers the glasses out. The kid looks at him, and Stiles winces because he can see the small shine of blood on his lip from where it must've connected with the ground and split. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a tissue and brushes it gently across the swollen lip, cleaning off the blood. 

"Thanks," the kid replies, his lips quirking up into a small smile. It's not a big one like Stiles would expect, but it's genuine and filled with real gratitude and that's enough for him. He offers his own giant smile in return before turning to the books littered all over the ground. He was right before, there really is enough to fill up a whole locker and as he picks up the english, science and maths books, picks up the music books and the subject books from throughout the year, picks up all the books, he realises they literally _are_ the kids entire locker. 

"So, what's your name?" he asks, instead of questioning the books, and he stacks them up into two piles before standing up with the bigger one of them. The kid scrambles to pick up the other stack and gives Stiles a shy look behind his cracked lenses. 

"Derek." 

"I'm Stiles," he replies before he inclines his head and begins to walk, Derek scrambling to keep up, "where do you live?" 

"Uh, down um, down Grove Street?" he says, and it's like a question as if he's not sure. But Stiles just smiles at him and nods. 

"Cool, you're one street down from me. I'm on Myrtle," he grins again and this time Derek gives him a shy smile in response. "How come I've never seen you around before?" 

Stiles nods his head along to Derek's explanation of this being his second week of actual in school education, having been home schooled for the first thirteen and a half years of his life. He offers to walk home with Derek, holding on tightly to the books in his arms even when Derek tries to take them, and he quickly picks up a conversation. Derek's incredibly quiet, and he assumes he's just incredibly shy, but he listens as Stiles rambles on about Batman villains, his favourite characters and the DC world. It's only when they're about ten more minutes away from Grove that Stiles realises that, while Derek might be shy, thats no excuse not to at least make comment on his love for Batman. 

"So what about you? Who do you like?" he asks, and he's surprised when Derek turns to look at him with red eyes. 

"Why do you assume I like comics? Is it cause I look like a nerd? With braces and glasses? Are you making fun of me?" Derek demands and Stiles instantly feels bad. He quickly shuffles the books across to one arm and reaches out with the other to put a hand on Derek's shoulder. 

"No. No way, man. I like comics, and I just… I thought that it was a boy thing to like them? I'm sorry if you don't, I didn't mean to…" he trails off, feeling incredibly stupid as he tears his eyes away from Derek's and looks over at the cars passing them by. He is such an idiot. 

It's silent for a long minute, long enough for Stiles to realise his hand is still on Derek shoulder and he slowly slips it off, letting the hand drop to his side. 

"Marvel." 

Stiles frowns. 

"I prefer Marvel," and Derek is giving him a cautious smile before he shuffles on the spot. "Captain America and Loki are my favourites, followed by Iron Man."  

Stiles grins madly and the information, and he jumps forward to surprise them both by wrapping Derek in an one armed hug and tug him down the road with an "I don't know if I should admire or despise your taste." 

… 

"Stiles?" 

"Yo Dad?" he calls back, swivelling around in his computer chair to look at his father leaning against the doorway to his room. He flashes him a big grin and small wave, "what brings you here?" 

John, the Sheriff of the town, gives him a roll of the eyes in response and saunters over to his bed to perch on the edge of it. He gives the room a once over before turning back to bore holes into his sons head. Because that's what fathers do. 

"Plans for this weekend?" he asks, and Stiles groans because he does this _every week_. 

"Lacrosse with the guys tomorrow and then going to a party, maybe hopefully possibly if you give permission because you are my delightful father who knows best, for just freshmen?" he rushes out, giving his father the most innocent grin he can possibly muster which just earns him another roll of the eyes. 

"Who exactly?" 

"Scott, Isaac, Jackson, Lydia, Allison. Maybe Erica and Boyd if Isaac can convince them." 

"That it?" 

Stiles hesitates before he continues. "I was thinking of inviting this kid I met today, Derek," he glances at his phone, thinking he needs to actually ring him soon and ask, "he seems pretty lonely, I mean he is new to school and everything and that _has_ to be hard because we are kinda half way through the year." 

"Derek? What's his last name?" and Stiles sees a glint in his fathers eye making him frown. 

"Know him?" 

"Possibly." 

"Oh," Stiles looks at his hands before giving his father a sheepish smile, "I sorta forgot to ask." 

John rolls his eyes for the _third_ time, and Stiles thinks it might actually be a record tonight, before nodding as he gets up to leave. "Be good," he says, "and no alcohol. No driving. No drugs. And please, for my mental well-being, no sex." 

He seems to be on his way out before he pauses and turns to look back over his shoulder, "oh, and Stiles? If it's who I'm thinking of, it's possible you might be making friends with Derek _Hale_." 

Stiles freezes with his hand over the mouse, his eyes widening as he thinks _yes_. It makes perfect sense. Because there'd been rumours about the one of the last Hale kids coming to Beacon High and _of course_. 

"Take care of him, Stiles." 

Stiles just nods before getting up and surprising them both by giving his father a brief hug and pushing him out the door. As soon as he's gone Stiles turns back to his computer and looks at the phone resting beside it, contemplating it for a moment before he lets out a huff and picks it up. It takes him a moment, but eventually he manages to find Derek's number, the one he'd literally had to con the kid into giving him. 

It seems like Derek's not going to pick up though, when he calls, and he counts eight rings before the call starts and the sound of crashing and banging fills the speaker. 

"Derek?" Stiles asks, cautious yet curious. 

"...S-Stiles?" 

"Hey man!" he chirps, frowning briefly because Derek sounds oddly out of breath and there's certainly a little bit of panting from him, but then again he _is_ a teenage boy. Stiles has had many an awkward phone call with Scott. _Many_. 

"H-hey? Is, ah, is everything okay?" 

"Yeah! Everything's peachy, perfect, wonderful really," Stiles replies, "I was calling to ask, you're still not doing anything this weekend right? I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with me and the guys?" 

"I…I-" 

"We're just gonna be playing lacrosse. Well, Isaac and Jackson will be. I'll probably just flail around and be their target practice and Scott'll drool over Allison the whole time, whether she's there or not. It's actually kind gross how Disney like they are. And the best part? They're not even together. Because Scott is a dick who's afraid Allison will reject him and she thinks he doesn't like her _that_ much. I mean, are they kidding me? The only thing Scott will ever reject her on is a break-up, and even then I'm sure he'd go all sacrificial 'if it's what you want' on her butt. And it wouldn't even be an intentional guilt trip. Ugh. So, this weekend? Yeah? I'll come by your place at nine-thirty and pick you up." 

"Stiles-" 

"Hey, you busy now? Have you got Skype? We should Skype. I'm keen for that. What's your Skype?" 

"I…" and Stiles actually listens this time, waiting patiently for Derek to figure out the words to say, "my rooms a bit… messy at the moment. Maybe some other time?" 

"Don't worry, bro. Mine's just as bad," he grins as if Derek can actually see as he looks around at the mess that he calls a room. "It'll be fine." 

"I dunno…" 

"Look, we can even just chat if you want, no video, and you can clean your room while we're at it. _Then_ we can video call." 

"Stiles-" 

"No buts, dude, seriously. It's Friday, the only thing you have to do tomorrow is hang with me and the others. So. What's your Skype?" 

There's silence on the other end for a minute before Derek seems to take a deep breath and rattles off his name followed by a bunch of numbers. Stiles grins in victory as he hurriedly types them in and adds Derek, hanging up to call him over Skype. He has to admit, he was afraid Derek wouldn't pick up, but he does almost instantly and Stiles grins at the screen where he knows Derek can see him. 

"I'll have video on my end so you can see me," he says even though it's fairly obvious. "What's with all the numbers, man?" 

"They… they're my parent's birthdate." 

"Real?" 

"Yeah, they… they were born on the same day but two years apart." 

Stiles leans back in his chair, a grin on his face as he lets out a low whistle, "sounds like soul-mates to me." 

Derek murmurs something unintelligible back, but Stiles doesn't let it bother him. Instead he flies into a great big tirade on the theories behind soul-mates and the examples that can be found in fiction, and Derek stays on the whole time, making small comments here and there but mostly just agreeing with Stiles. 

And later, when he turns on his video and Stiles can see his face, the first thing Stiles does is grin and comment on his new glasses and how they actually look wicked hipster like, and how he suits them.  

The small smile on the kids face is worth it. 

… 

"Ugh, remind me to never wake up at nine-thirty," Stiles comments to his father, who laughs at his sons pain because he is _cruel_ , as they climb into the car and back out of the drive. He gives his father vague instructions as to where Derek lives and John seems to somehow understand him as he parks right outside. Stiles looks at the door-handle for a moment, wondering how to open it before John leans over and pops it open. 

"Go get Derek," he sighs and nudges his stumbling son out of the car, despite the yelp of protest, and Stiles does as he is told. He must admit, the house is quite homely as he trundles up the stone path and knocks on the door. 

Of course, he's a bit taken aback when it isn't Derek who answers, but a woman who only looks a few years their senior. His sister, maybe? 

"Hello?" she says, and Stiles can't figure out which of them is more confused. 

"Ah, hi?" 

"Who are you?" 

"I'm Stiles," and when the name doesn't seem to strike a bell of recognition he continues on, "Derek's friend? The one he's hanging out with today?" 

The woman looks at him with a frown permeating on her face, and Stiles shifts awkwardly on the spot. "Derek doesn't have friends," she says after a long moment, and Stiles finds his mouth working but no sound coming out, because Derek is his friend. He _is_. 

"Who are-"  

"Laura? Who is it?" comes a small voice from behind the woman, _Laura_ , and Stiles is suddenly met with the sight of none other than Derek, still in his pyjamas and looking sorta worse for wear. His eyes widen when they land on Stiles though, and he stumbles past the women with a confused "Stiles?" 

"Hey, you're not ready," is all Stiles can think to say, and he watches as Derek seems to flounder under the raised eyebrow of the women and Stiles's gaze. 

"I… I didn't _actually_ think you'd show up." 

Stiles snorts before he reaches forward and drags him into a tight one armed hug. "Course I was, am, have," he laughs before he pushes him back into the doorway, "now go and get ready, Dad's waiting to take us down to the field to meet with the others." 

He watches as Derek moves away, glancing back occasionally as if to see if Stiles is actually still there before he disappears from sight. Laura watches him then, staring down at him before pursing her lips. "Take care of him," she says and Stiles automatically replies "of course" before Derek is back, looking flustered as ever as he stumbles out the door. 

"I… I didn't know what to wear," he says as he reaches up and stuffs a beanie over his bed hair, looking at Stiles for approval. Stiles barely gives him a look before nodding, it's not like he's the only one wearing jeans and a scruffy shirt even thoughsaid shirt looks a bit too big.  

"It's fine, have you got a sweatshirt? It might be a bit cold." Stiles gives him a giant grin, trying to be reassuring, and Derek gives a sharp nod and holds up the piece of clothing in question. "Then let's go," Stiles says and starts to walk away, giving Laura a brief goodbye and high-tailing it down the pavement. He hears the two murmuring behind him but leaves them to it as he slides in the back seat, holding the door open for Derek to jump in too. 

"I thought you would sit in the front," Derek says with a frown, and Stiles goes to reply before his father's laugh interrupts. 

"Stiles isn't allowed in the front when he has friends in the car. He gets too excited and often _hits me_." 

"Accidentally!" 

Derek smiles at Stiles's protests and hides his face. Stiles watches him with a small frown before he asks his dad to turn the music up a bit then reaches over to force Derek into singing with him. 

Ten painful, for Derek and John, minutes later, Stiles pats his father's shoulder and pulls himself out of the car while looking for the others. Already he can see Isaac, Jackson and Scott wrestling on the field with a forlorn looking Danny on the sidelines holding their lacrosse sticks. Boyd, Erica, and Allison are watching with raised eyebrows as Lydia walks towards the field, and Stiles puts a hand on Derek's shoulder to stop him for a moment. 

"Watch this," he mutters and Derek only has time to give him a frown before Stiles forces him to look at the field with a snort, just in time to catch Lydia call out to Jackson to make him look up at her with the most exasperated smile ever before she blows him a kiss, right as Scott comes out of nowhere and tackles him. 

The high pitched scream from Jackson, the one that could put a pig to shame, makes Stiles die laughing, bending over as he tries to suck in a deep breath. He sees Derek out of the corner of his eye, looking awfully confused, and he manages to pull himself together enough to gesture badly in the others directions. 

"That was the power couple," he snorts out, "you probably know them, Queen and King Bee?" 

"Lydia and Jackson." 

"Yeah," and Stiles gives him a smile before turn back to the others, "They'll give us maybe five seconds to introduce each other, so better to point them out from here. You already know Isaac, I'm assuming, then the one holding the lacrosse sticks is Danny, Scott's the one who tackled Jackson and Allison, the other half of the Disney couple, is the brunette with Boyd and Erica, the bald guy and blonde, who I'm positive are _also_ a couple. They'd be the cute non-vomit inducing couple probably. And then you have me," he gives Derek a giant grin, "Stiles! With the unpronounceable first name!" 

Derek quirks an eyebrow at him, and Stiles winces because that's such a Lydia thing to do, before he points them all out and recites their names, getting them all right on the first go. "Perfect," Stiles says before he grabs Derek's wrist and begins to pull him over. 

He doesn't know the reaction he's going to get, but he's betting on 'pleasantly surprised' rather than 'shocked mortification'.  

"Hey guys!" he calls as he barrels up to them, gathering the attention of everyone besides Scott and Jackson who are still at each others throats. He puts his hand to his mouth and blows a short whistle, something he learned from his father, and easily gets their attention. "Guys," he starts again and pulls Derek forward, "this is Derek. I thought he could hang with us today." 

There's mixed reactions. Isaac bounds forward and gives Derek a giant grin, obviously familiar with the guy, and Scott wraps Stiles into a head lock and playfully punches Derek's arm with a "what's up!". Danny nods in his direction and gives a friendly smile, Allison comes up to give him a short hug in hello, Erica stares at him with wide eyes while Boyd says "hey, Derek," along with a nod. 

But it's Lydia and Jackson who Stiles watches, or more Lydia who has the real say over who stays and goes. She is Queen Bee for a reason, and Stiles holds his breath as she walks right up to Derek who looks suddenly nervous. 

"Hm, Macy's," is all she says before giving a sharp nod and turning to Allison and Erica, "he needs a new outfit, or five" she declares and the girls all nod in agreement before disappearing towards the stands already planning. 

Derek looks lost and looks towards Stiles with wide eyes. He laughs though and reaches forward to clap Derek on the arm, "she approves," he says, "she just wants to 'Lydia' you. Make you all pretty. Not that you aren't already, but I'm assuming you're not quite up to Lydia's standard." 

"Is that bad?" 

Stiles snorts, "even Jackson's not up to Lydia standard." 

Derek gives a small smile, looking significantly happier, and Stiles reaches forward to ruffle his hair before Jackson is suddenly right in their faces. 

"Heads up, nerd!" he calls as he throws a lacrosse ball at Derek, and Stiles winces when it hits Derek's forehead and floors him. He starts to rush forward to help him up but is beaten by Isaac and Scott who are both yelling at Jackson. 

"I think he likes you!" he calls to Derek instead, and gets a sarcastic thumbs up in response. 

... 

The mall isn't that big, Stiles thinks, but the wide eyed expression on Derek's face makes him realise that maybe Derek hasn't actually been to a mall before. Then again, they are a town over, because Lydia shops for "only the best which is _not_ in Beacon Hills" and it's possible Derek hasn't left Beacon Hills before. 

"You alright?" he asks and nudges Derek with his elbow, drawing his attention as the others disperse. Erica and Lydia towards the mens section and calling for Derek to come with, Isaac and Scott disappear towards the bowler hats, Boyd and Jackson seem to be having fun trying on various sunglasses and pulling faces at each other, and Allison has taken Danny towards the dresses with a bright grin. Derek watches them all as well, frowning before looking back at Stiles. 

"A bit overwhelmed," he says but forces a smile and nods when Stiles raises an eyebrow. 

"Trust me, bro, you think you're overwhelmed now? Wait until Lydia realises you're not following her," and he sniggers a bit when Derek pales before he snags him by the shirt and pulls him into a one armed hug. "But seriously, are you okay with this all?" he asks, and Derek actually takes a moment to think before replying. 

"Yeah. It's nice to have people to talk to, even if Jackson is a douche." 

Stiles laughs, "yeah, Jackson's always a douche," is all he can say before Erica is front of them and tugging on Derek's shirt, muttering something about Lydia and demons. Derek shoots Stiles a worried look but Stiles just gives him a thumbs up, "you'll be okay," he says and Derek nods before disappearing with Erica amongst the racks. 

Stiles frowns at the sudden loss before shrugging it off and snagging a bowler hat from Isaac.  

Of course, it's only half an hour later, when Stiles is staring at the horridness that is Scott and Isaac squirming into a triple XL shirt that would look good on a tourist in Hawaii or something, that everything goes to shit. Lydia and Erica come rushing towards them, Erica pushing the dynamic duo in front of Stiles into some nearby clothing racks which promptly collapses under their weight, before stopping in front of Stiles. 

"Your friend is taking his time," Lydia snaps, and she sounds so utterly pissed off that Stiles feels bad instantly. But Erica steps in as well as Allison, who appears from heavens knows were, and grab one of Stiles's arms each. 

"Lydia sent him in to the dressing room ten minutes ago with a bunch of clothes to try on, and Danny was going to go with him but got distracted and wandered off. And we can't find anyone else at the moment. But we're just a bit worried," Allison explains and Erica nods along beside him. 

"We, ah, we thought we would ask you to check on him? Better to be safe than sorry," Erica finishes and Stiles sees the worry in her face. He knows that people often have to check on her, and it's not like Stiles has actually asked if Derek is prone to anything. Like seizures. 

"Yeah, shit, yeah of course, what changing rooms?" he asks and quickly rushed over to the other side of the store to where Allison points him to, Erica beside him. "Back in a sec," he says with a reassuring grin before disappearing in and wandering down the short hallway to the changing rooms. 

"Derek? Derek, you there?" There's only one door actually shut in the room, and Stiles frowns as he wanders over to it, the sound of heavy breathing confusing him. 

He listens for a moment, biting his lip with concentration, before he realises that the heavy breathing isn't _just_ heavy breathing, but the sound of someone hyperventilating. Someone having a _panic attack_. 

"Derek!" he cries as he paws at the door fruitlessly, but there's only a hitched breath in reply and he swears as he drops to his stomach and wriggles underneath the gap between the door and the floor. He get's halfway through when he looks up to see Derek curled into the corner, hands gripping his hair tightly with his elbows braced against his drawn up knees.  

Stiles swears again before finally breaking free of the tight space and he crawls over to kneel in front of Derek, eyes wide. "Derek?" he tries again, and his hand automatically reaches out to touch Derek's wrist, only for Derek's breathing to become even more erratic and Stiles drops his hand. He forgot, rule number one, never touch a person enduring a panic attack. He personally hates it, and by the looks of it Derek does too. 

He bites his lips and tries to think of a plan, not missing the irony of the situation. You'd think he'd know what to do, considering his spree of panic attacks over the years, but his mind runs a blank as he stares at Derek, stares at the pure panic and horror in his eyes as his lungs resist him, as he curls even tighter up into a ball while small sounds of fear escape his shaking body. 

Stiles looks at him and he feels his own throat beginning to close up, his own fear building, as he realises he has _no idea what to do_. He considers getting Lydia, Lydia will know, but he doesn't want to leave Derek at all, so instead he wriggles closer with a _possible_ plan forming in his head. 

"Ah, Derek? Derek, I need you to breathe with me," he starts, leaning forward to look the other in the face and waiting until those clouded eyes snap back to his, "please, breathe with me, ready? Breathe in though your nose, two three four, and out through your mouth, two three four, and in, two three four, out, two three four, in, two three four, out- _Derek_."  

He's shaking now, tears springing from his eyes and Stiles finds his own appearing in return because he's so bloody lost and confused. He shakes his head, trying to clear it, because the last thing they need is to have them both having panic attacks. He murmurs the others name a few more times, trying to get his attention, but Derek doesn't seem to even be registering what's happen. 

So he breaks rule one, and reaches out and tugs the other closer, ignoring the faster breathing and the small whines of protest, before he grabs Derek's hands and forces one onto each of their stomachs, leaving Derek's on his own, before reaching up to cup Derek's cheek. 

" _Derek_ ," and this time he says it harshly, adding a squeeze of both his hand on Derek's as well as the one on his cheek, and soon those eyes are flicking to meet his, " _breath with me_. In, two three four, out, two three four, in, two three four, out, two three four…" 

Surprisingly Derek begins to listen, his eyes dropping to Stiles's lips and his hands begin to clench around their abdomens as he feels them beginning to move in time with Stiles's words. It takes a while, a long while, for Derek to settle down, but Stiles just doesn't care as he closely watches Derek's eyes and grins when he sees them begin to refocus and clear-up.  

It takes another moment before Derek takes in a startlingly loud breath before he just _crumbles_ against Stiles, shocking him enough that his arms come up to pull him even closer into his chest. He winces when the glasses knock his chin and braces scrape the skin of his throat, but he bears it as his hand awkwardly slides to squeeze the back of Derek's neck and he's surprised at the small whimper he gets in reaction. 

"Mind tell me what that was about?" Stiles finally gets around to asking after a moment, and Derek just huffs a humourless laugh against his neck. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to happen." 

"I don't think anyone really means for a panic attack to happen," Stiles sighs and pulls Derek back to give him a smile, "but there's normally a cause. So, what's up, big guy?" 

Derek's eyes flick to the ground and Stiles watches him play with his hands for a while before looking up to give him a small rueful smile. "It's not that I don't appreciate this," he starts and gestures around the dressing room, "but I... I'm not use to people actually going out of their way to be friends with me." 

Stiles just looks at him with borderline disbelief before he shakes his head, "so you're just not used to, to all of this, are you?" he asks and Derek nods slowly. 

"It's not that I don't-" 

"Derek," Stiles stops him and slips a finger under his chin to make him look up, "it's fine, really," and the he softly knuckle-touches his chin and stands up to assess the clothes. He feels rather than sees Derek slowly stand up beside him and he turns to him with a grin. "I think the green would look good on you, with the black jeans, so we can just take the rest out and pretend you tried them on." 

Stiles just nods his head and grabs the clothes, already unlocking and leaving the room while Derek scrabbles to keep up. 

He tries to pretend he doesn't see Derek's thankful smile, but if he glues himself to Derek's side and argues with Lydia until the party is reduced down to just their group, well that's his business. No one else's. 

… 

**_Four Years Later_**  

… 

"You know, just because your girlfriend wanted you to hang out with me today, doesn't mean you need to stalk my every move," Stiles says as he slams his locker shut and turns to stare at Scott, raising an eyebrow at the overly innocent look adorning his friends face, "I'm sure she doesn't expect you to glue yourself to me." 

But of course Scott thinks she does, because he's an over grown adorable puppy that needs some loving. Stiles grins at him and pulls him close, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and guiding him towards the entrance of the school. 

"I know you love Allison and all that," he starts as they walk, "but buddy, it's not like we're not going to see each other. She can rest up on the whole 'making you hang out with your friends before graduation' thing." 

"It's on Monday, Stiles. Monday. It's Friday. Stiles, we have two days." 

"And you just brought it up," Stiles squeezes his shoulder and wrinkles his nose, "thanks man." Scott gives him a grin and leans into his embrace before he pulls them towards where their vehicles are. 

Stiles always laughs when he sees them. The car-park is a lot like the cafeteria really, with the cool cars in one area, the absolute bombs in another, the creepy stoner vans on one side, the bikes lined by the sidewalk and the push-bikes chained beside them. Except for with their group. There's Boyd's crappy pick-up truck nudged up beside Erica's horrifyingly yellow beetle, and Stiles's jeep which he has to admit doesn't quite measure up to Jackson's porsche and Derek's camero parked on either side, but is much better than Scott's push-bike that's chained to Jackson's hubcaps. 

He's never understood why Scott does that, especially when Jackson catches him and screams at him for a good twenty minutes about "hurting his baby". He snorts as Scott wanders over again today, already looking for Jackson as he huddles next to the chains and begins to unlock the padlocks. 

"Stiles!" 

He turns at the sound of his name and there's automatically a grin on his face as he sees Derek walking towards him with Jackson and Isaac beside him. Of course, he takes a moment to give a thought of sympathy towards Scott as Jackson notices him, but it's gone as soon as Derek bounds up to him and pulls him into a tight hug. 

Now, if there's one thing over the past four years that has really _really_ changed, it'll be Derek. Derek, who lost the braces and has _perfect teeth_ , Derek, who stopped with the dorky large glasses and started wearing contacts, Derek, who got help from Jackson and Isaac and has bulked out with enough muscle to make him look perfect everywhere and not like an overgrown grape and started growing incredibly hot stubble. Derek, with the fantastic personality and wonderful body, and Derek, who is currently pressing up against a internally drooling Stiles. 

"You should've been at practice," he cheers as soon as he pulls away, grinning madly at Stiles, who denies that there is a sudden lack of air in his lungs, "it was fantastic!" 

"Every practice is fantastic, Derek," Stiles chides with a laugh, and Derek just grins at him. 

"They're always better when you're there," he says, and Stiles's mouth works for a minute in shock, not knowing what to say.  

It doesn't matter though, because there's suddenly a god awful groan from Jackson as he pushes past them with a "damn idiots" and walks over to Scott, already shouting at the boy. Stiles smiles once in their direction before he turns back to Derek with a quirked eyebrow. "I couldn't have been there anyway," he says, "detention with Harris." 

"Even though it should've been Isaac," Derek replies and turns to glare at the other kid standing with them, making Isaac grin sheepishly and back away to the approaching girls. Stiles laughs and shakes his head as he cuffs the back of Derek's head. 

"It's not entirely his fault, I was the one who decided that mixing sulphide with acid was a good idea." 

"Yeah, but you're the one who took the complete rap for it." 

Stiles just shakes his head again, "better to let him get out of detention than be stuck in said detention watching him _mope_. You know how painful that is." 

Derek lets out a huff of air before nodding in agreement as he turns to look over at Isaac. "He's terrible with the moping," he says, and Stiles picks up on the affection in Derek's voice. It makes him smile. 

"So, I heard from Harvard," he suddenly blurts, waiting for Derek to turn back with raised eyebrows. 

"And..?" 

"I got in!" 

There's silence for a minute before Derek is suddenly grinning and rushing forward to hug him, letting out a loud whoop as he does so. Stiles laughs as he hugs him back, grinning as his face is smooshed into Derek's chest. It's only when Derek doesn't pull away though does the grin slip from his face and Stiles pulls back to look up at him, surprised to see Derek looking back with sad eyes. 

"I got into Berkeley," he says quietly. 

"What? Derek! That's great," Stiles cheers but Derek's look doesn't change making him frown, "what's wrong?" 

"We… we're going to be so far away from one another." 

"Oh," he bites his lip before reaching up and cupping Derek's cheek, giving him a small smile, "you dork, you think I'm gonna let a little bit of space come between me and one of my best mates?" 

Derek looks at him, seemingly considering something, before a huge grin appears on his face and he nods. "Course you wouldn't," he laughs, "you're too stubborn for that." 

Stiles grins back and gives his cheek a quick pat before he pulls away. It looks like Derek wants to say something else, his mouth falling open and Stiles leans in to hear it, but it's then that Jackson decides to jump on Derek's back and Isaac slides forward to hip check Stiles. 

"So, you coming to the party tonight?" he asks as they watch Jackson and Derek tackle each other, rolling over to the girls and both getting smacked by Lydia and her handbag. Stiles quirks an eyebrow in Isaac's direction and laughs. 

"Why would I want to miss it?" 

… 

"I can think of many reasons to miss this," Stiles grumbles as he flops down on the couch beside Isaac. Isaac just snorts into his drink and Stiles turns to look at him, feeling scandalised. "You think this is funny?" he demands and Isaac laughs. 

"Course I do." 

"Asshole." 

Isaac grins at him long enough for Stiles to get sufficiently irritated that he smacks him across the face, feeling plenty angry to not even feel bad when Isaac just whimpers in response. He turns back to glaring at the crowd of people instead of Isaac, and raises his drink in salute at Erica when he catches her eye. Which is impressive in itself when she seems to be focused on making unflappable Boyd completely flustered.  

Maybe the booty shaking in his face will work? 

"So, what did Captain Perfect do?" 

Stiles takes a swing of his drink before he looks back at Isaac, glaring at him with unbidden hatred. "What makes you think it was him? And why do you still call him that?" 

Isaac rolls his eyes and rearranges himself on the couch until he's actually facing Stiles with that judgmental look. "Maybe because you think he's 'practically perfect in every way'!" 

"You can't quote Mary Poppins. Especially not in reference to Derek." 

"So you don't deny it." 

"I don't think he's perfect!" 

Isaac laughs, full on throws his head back and laughs like its the last thing he'll ever do. "Pa-lease," he snorts out when he's managed to get some of his breath back, "you've been ass over tits for the guy since you first dragged him out on the field and Jackson nailed him with a lacrosse ball! Not to mention you've been swooning to Scott for the past four years that 'Derek is so interesting, Scott', 'his eyes are perfect, Scott', 'his laugh is like a gift from the angels, Scott', 'can I just jump his bones forever, Scott?'" 

Stiles shook his head, "I think you're mixing me and Scott up," and when Isaac just laughs again Stiles glares at his lap. "Yeah yeah, laugh it up," he snaps and jumps when Isaac's hand lands on his head. 

"If it makes you feel better, we're all rooting for you," he says with a small sincere smile, "and he is sorta perfect. I mean, look what he did for me." 

Stiles does. He thinks about the time two years ago when they found out about Isaac's abuse at the hands of his father, about how Derek just took Isaac in and asked Laura to apply to be his legal guardian, about how within a month Laura, with some help from the sheriff, has handed over the documents and Isaac had officially become part of the small Hale family. Stiles thinks about it, thinks about Derek's utter humanity and he smiles with Isaac as they sit in companionable silence. 

"So, you didn't answer my question," Isaac says after a bit, "what'd he do?" 

Stiles takes a deep breath and a swing of his drink, draining the last drops of the bottle, before he fiddles with the label. "I guess _he_ didn't really do anything," he sighs, "I mean he's perfectly entitled to let Jennifer hit on him-" 

"Wait, _Jennifer_? As in 'dropped his ass for a failed attempt at Jackson' Jennifer?" Isaac asks and he sounds so scandalised it makes Stiles smile. 

"Yeah. She's over there-" he waves his hand around towards the general direction of the two, "- getting all up in his grill. Or some shit like that." When he looks up and sees Isaac's furious look he quickly backtracks, "Isaac, calm down. It's not like he belongs to me or anything. Jeez, I'm hardly in his league." 

" _Not in his league_?" Isaac practically screeches, and Stiles flinches as he reaches out and cuffs his head, "are you insane? You're so in his league it hurts _everyone_ that has to watch your pining asses day in and day out." 

"I'm fairly sure he's straight, Isaac." 

Isaac snorts and shakes his head, "yeah, cause straight people totally date Matt-" and he stops at Stiles's pained look and winces, "with whom we are never to mention again, right, sorry." 

Stiles waves it off before glancing back at the bottle in his hands, "what about Paige though? And Kate? And Jennifer?"  

"Oh come on. We all know he only went out with Paige because her friends were making fun of her not being able to get a boyfriend, they didn't even _kiss_. And Kate was a psychopath. The only reason she dated him was to get at him and his sister to…" Isaac swallows and glances around before leaning in to continue in a whisper, "you know,  _finish them off_." 

"Crazy bitch." 

Isaac nods in agreement before pulling away again, "and Jennifer is a wonderful manipulator. I don't even know if he actually _likes_ her, but she makes him think he does." He takes a swing of his own drink before letting out a "ahh" afterwards. "He hasn't got the best track record, really," he finally continues, "but you could change that, you know. Derek is interested in you, bro." 

Stiles looks up at him, not really wanting to get his hopes up, but Isaac sounds so sincere as he gives him the biggest winning smile he can muster up that he can't help the small flutter in his chest. 

"Want another drink?" 

… 

Stiles's favourite part after the parties, that've raged almost every weekend all year, is definitely at the end when Lydia demands that Jackson and Derek clear everyone from her house and they do, albeit drunkenly, while the rest of their group troop up to Lydia's room and make themselves comfortable on any available surface. It always ends up so bizarre, and Stiles loves the general companionship of being crammed into a reasonable room with some of his best mates for the night. 

Like now, where Stiles has claimed the two person sofa with a vengeance, because last time he'd ended up on the floor where Boyd and Erica are currently residing and looking much more comfortable than Stiles had last time. Lydia has her bed, clearly, and there's a space for Jackson when he comes back as well as a sleepy Isaac, who's slowly crawling across the ground to no doubt curl up at their feet. Allison and Scott are occupying the spare mattress that's dragged to every party in Boyd's pickup, and Danny's passed out sitting up against the wall with a bottle of Jack clenched between his thighs. 

"Hey Stiles," he hears Lydia pipe up despite the fact he is all but suffocating himself with the pillows littering the couch. He lets out a groan in reply before awkwardly turning his head to see her kneeling at the edge of her bed, her eyes twinkling as she gives him an unimpressed look. 

"Whaa?" he slurs out, and he almost finds it hilarious because he isn't even drunk. Then again, almost everyone else is and sometimes things can be 'contagious', like a smile, and boy is that soppy. 

"When are you going to admit your crush on Derek _to_ Derek?" and literally everyone's attention is caught by that, and Stiles finds himself staring into seven curious pairs of eyes, even Danny who seems to wake up at the sound of any form of gossip. 

He groans again and genuine considers suffocating himself before he rolls onto his back and lets out a huff at the ceiling. "Know why they're called a crush, Lydia?" he asks, not expecting a reply, "because they crush you. Seriously. They should be renamed soul destroyers."  

"You're so melodramatic," Erica snorts from where she's lying and Stiles raises his surprisingly heavy arm and flips her off despite Boyd's growls. 

"Suck it," he snaps before lolling his head to look at Lydia, "so never. Is the answer. Because it's not like its that big enough to worry about. It'll go away soon, it's nothing. And anyway, it's not like he's into me. I saw him and Jennifer going at it before you yelled at him and Jackson to clear the house. Seriously." 

"Oh Stiles," Allison pipes up this time and Stiles wants to cry a bit because really, Allison and Scott are convinced everyone can have a disney romance like them but sometimes they're just so _blind_ , "it is something, you mean something to him as well as he means something to you." 

He shakes his head and picks up a nearby pillow, holding it above his face. "It's just a little soul destroyer, no biggie," he sighs before dragging the pillow down to cover his face. Hopefully it'll muffle his screams if the others keep asking questions. Luckily it seems Lydia is too busy have a rage over the tidbit about Jennifer and Derek, with Isaac joining in which is no surprise because Stiles _had_ shut him down earlier, to give a passing interest in Stiles. 

"Please tell me we're not talking about someones love life," Jackson's condescending voice still manages to cut through the thickness of the the pillow wrapped around Stiles's ears and he must admit he's a bit impressed at that, "especially not Stilinski's. Not that there's much to talk about." 

"Hey!" Stiles snaps and throws the pillow in a surprisingly accurate arc that hits Jackson's head. Fortunately, yet unfortunately, he is stopped from retaliating as Lydia is up and crossing the room to jab her finger in a confused Derek's chest. 

" _Jennifer_?" she all but screeches, and Stiles's blood runs cold because Derek will _know_ it was him who told the others. He hadn't been subtle when he'd accidentally bumped into them earlier, not subtle at all, in fact his face was still smarting a bit from it's encounter with the wall. 

"Jennifer? Lydia, what?" Derek asks and he seems to be so innocent and Stiles wants to laugh because Derek may be Lydia's favourite but that doesn't mean he can get away with the stupid act. 

"You and Jennifer? Are you kidding me?" she surprises them all by slapping Derek, albeit not too hard, before placing her hands on her hips and demanding an answer with just her eyebrows. 

"Are you kidding me? I wouldn't, not with _her_ ," and Derek's eyes are suddenly looking at Stiles who feels overwhelmingly guilty and shrinks in his seat, "it meant nothing. We were both-" 

"If you say drunk, I swear you will not have a ball-sack in the next two minutes," Isaac pipes up and if Derek had looked betrayed when he'd looked at Stiles then it was like world treason when he looks at Isaac. 

"Look, it was just a bit of fooling around, she knows it's nothing serious," Derek says quietly, almost to the floor with the way his head is hanging, "hell, it's not like she would want me back. I'm just a good substitute for Jackson." The way he says it makes Stiles hurt, because it's just so _raw_ , like Derek really thinks he's nothing but Jackson's replacement.  

"You're much better than Jackson," he pipes up, and surprisingly Jackson doesn't even argue as he places a hand on Derek's shoulder and nods in agreement, "and you could have anyone you want, so stop with all this self-deprecating crap, Derek," he continues before he pats the cushion beside him in invitation. 

"Not _anyone_ ," Derek replies before he edges away from a still fuming Lydia to slump down beside Stiles. That seems to be that though, and Stiles knows that nobody ever has a go at Derek if he's curling up beside him because Stiles tends to get protective. 

The others settle down though, all dropping back into comfortable positions, like Isaac who snuggles in between Lydia and Jackson like a human-sized puppy dog, and Jackson pipes up with a few movie ideas to put on before the room falls silent as some chick flick begins to play on the TV above Danny. Derek offers Stiles a small smile before he's sliding down from his sitting position and laying his head on Stiles's stomach, trapping Stiles underneath him as he turns to look up at the TV. It's comfortable though and Stiles finds himself automatically raising a hand to tangle in dark black locks, the hair soft against his fingers. 

"You are better than him, and you're worth more than what she deserves," he murmurs a while later when the snores of the others and Lydia and Erica's hushed whispers fill the room. He feels Derek moving around until his chin is digging into his stomach a little and those big eyes are looking up at him. 

"Really?" Derek asks, and he sounds so much like a child and so innocent that Stiles can't help but smile. 

"Of course you are," he replies and his hand trails down, brushing aside the mess of hair across Derek's face, to cup his cheek, "you're worth so much, idiot." _So much to me_.

Derek seems to consider it for a moment, and Stiles isn't aware he's stroking Derek's cheek with his thumb until Derek is turning his head and placing a soft kiss against the pad of his thumb. Stiles feels his breath hitch, feels his heart rate spike up and a flash of fear settles in him as Derek slowly tilts his head to rest back against Stiles's stomach at the thought that he might _hear_ it, but Derek's eyes just close and Stiles hand drifts back up to his hair. 

"He's just drunk," he mumbles to himself, and ignores Lydia's "no he's not" from the other side of the room. 

… 

"You two are _terrible_ ," Melissa sighs as she practically hits Scott then Stiles on the chest, trying to brush off all the lint and fluff clinging to their suits. Stiles tries not to grin, but after exchanging a look with Scott he can't hold it in and laughs a little, only stopping when his father cuffs the back of his head. 

"Don't be so rude," he scolds with a smile and shake of the head. 

Stiles just smiles back before reaching up to help brush off the fluff and tighten his tie. He thinks its a bit ridiculous really, it's not like anyone's gonna see the suit under the graduation gown, but whatever. As long as his father and Melissa are happy. 

"Oi! McCall! Bilinski! Get your asses back behind stage," Coach Finstock's voice cuts through the air and automatically Stiles and Scott take off, giving their parents big grins before racing past Finstock with apologies and bursting backstage to wait in the wings with the others. 

They instantly crash into the rest of the group, all of them giving them judging looks at their tardiness, but Stiles just flashes them a thumbs up. Scott's instantly by Allison, typical, and Stiles gives Lydia a apologetic smile as he moves over to stand by a grinning Derek. 

"Glad you could make it," Derek says and Stiles rolls his eyes. 

"Couldn't miss my own graduation," he laughs, "Dad would actually kill me." There's a murmur of agreement from Scott across the way but Stiles ignores him to look back at Derek. "Been here long?" he asks and receives a shrug in response. Stiles smiles though and reaches up to put a hand on his shoulder, "nervous?" 

"It's not everyday you're asked to make a speech." 

" _Valedictorian_ speech," Stiles cheers, and Derek seems to pale a bit more, "it's impressive, Derek. You beat me and _Lydia_." 

"That's a damn achievement," Isaac adds from the other side of Derek, and Derek offers him a big smile. Stiles nods his head in agreement and watches as Derek catches his eye before looking at the ground, suddenly shy and bashful. 

Stiles wants to say something, wants to pipe up and ask Derek… ask him if _maybe_ there might be, might be something? Maybe? Possibly? Hypothetically? As Lydia had said over the phone last night, the only way to find out was to ask, and she's sure that if he asks he will definitely receive, and maybe if he sucks it up and just _asks_ then maybe, just maybe, be might be able to get that something he wants so bad. 

"Hey Derek," he starts and he wouldn't be surprised if Derek has whiplash with the speed he looks up, with the wide hopeful eyes and a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth, and Stiles wonders if _maybe_ - 

"Alright! Move out! Single file, in order of last name. Hale!" and Stiles isn't the only one to visibly jump when Finstock is suddenly in front of them all and eyeballing Derek, "after you're given your award you go down the steps then back here, alright? The rest of you, move!" 

Stiles finds himself being dragged by Erica to their placement in line, her in front, and he barely has time to look over and mouth a quick "good luck!" at Derek accompanied by a grin before Allison's name is being called out and the process begins. One by one their year slowly files out and receives their diplomas, all grinning and waving at the crowd. Stiles cheers along too, screaming and wolf-whistling particularly hard when his friends shake the principal's hands and file down the stairs.  

He watches Derek, knowing he's a good twenty people in front of him, and makes sure to scream particularly loud. Loud enough that Erica hits him and Derek turns around on stage to give him a soft smile that quickly turns into a look of determination. Stiles shrugs it off though, knowing it's probably for the speech Derek's about to give, so it doesn't surprise him too much when Derek is suddenly back and by his shoulder. What does surprise him though, is when Derek tugs him out of line and pulls him to the side, looking oddly breathless with flaming red cheeks as his hands grasp Stiles's tightly. 

"You're not worthless, either," he says and he sounds just as breathless as he looks, "you're worth so much more than you think. You think you're ridiculously unattractive, you think you're annoying and that everyone dislikes you half the time, you think that we only put up with you because of Scott and Allison's Disney romance, you think that you don't actually belong half the time and you think that _no one_ notices you. But everyone does, everyone notices you because, even though Isaac may joke about you saying it about me, _you're_ the one that's practically perfect in every way." He stops, just stops sharp and Stiles's mouth is hanging open as he looks at the raw, open emotions raging across Derek's face before a stunning grin nearly blinds him. "You're perfect to me, you always have been, ever since you picked up my stupid cracked glasses and told me that those guys bullying me had smaller dicks than brains, since you walked me home and forced me into your social circle." 

He gives Stiles's hands a tight squeeze, and Stiles barely registers Erica's name being called as he focuses on Derek's smile. 

"I don't think you realise how _much_ you mean, Stiles," Derek continues, sounding more rushed than before, "but I hope I can help you _see_." 

Then suddenly Derek is surging forward and he brushes his lips agains Stiles's, soft and barely there, before he's pushing him in the direction of the stage where Stiles's name is being called for the third time. 

He stumbles out, more dazed than anything, shakes the principal's hand and tumbles down the stairs into the aisle seat beside Erica who's looking more curious than anything else. But Stiles's can't hear her over the screaming of the crowd, the blood rushing in his ears and the pounding thought of " _Derek kissed me_ ". He barely focuses when Jackson comes out, the last of them all, and holds his diploma up with a victory roar that's echoed by everyone else, but he's suddenly all ears when the principal invites the Valedictorian to the stand. 

Stiles's chest constricts when he sees a nervous Derek walk out, and he can't help but think for a moment that _damn_ , he is one fine specimen. 

"Ah, hello?" he starts, and there's a small chuckle that runs through the crowd, something that seems to give him a bit more courage before he speaks again, eyes almost glued to the piece of paper in front of him. "Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years, whether its your parents-" and Stiles catches his dad's eye with a grin, "-your teachers, your siblings-" and Stiles knows that look up and small smile is from Derek to Laura to Isaac, "-maybe a coach-" a cheer from Finstock and the lacrosse team which earns a laugh from the crowd, and Derek grins, "-but mostly, your friends." 

He goes quiet for a moment, and the room is a dull murmur as Derek seems to take a deep breath before folding up the piece of paper and raising his head to look at the crowd.

"Definitely your friends," he says and his voice sounds stronger and there's a rumble in the crowd, "and, I can honestly say that being a _friend_ is the greatest gift you can ever give anyone," and suddenly his eyes are on Stiles, locked on and there's a small smile on his face. 

Stiles swallows 

"I needed a friend," Derek's voice is surprisingly clear, and the whole room falls silent, "back in freshman year. I started half way through, a few months after the death of my family in a fire. It was just me and my sister and we didn't have much, all we had was each other. She was left to look after everything, she was eighteen and thrown into an adult world with no preparation while I was fourteen with nothing except a lot of guilt and hate. I had no friends, I had a sister who was hardly there, I had to deal with my family's death and the sudden changes to my life. It was tough, and I thought that maybe everything would've been easier if I wasn't there. I planned to kill myself on the weekend after two weeks of school."

 There's a small gasp that runs through the crowd, and Stiles almost winces as Erica's nails dig into his arm, but he doesn't care as his blood runs cold and Derek's eyes don't move from his. 

"I'd cleaned out my locker so my sister wouldn't have to do it for me, I tried to make it easy for her. She was going out that Friday night so I'd have the house to myself. I was so lost and prepared that when _someone_ helped me, someone saved me I couldn't believe it," and suddenly there's a blinding smile on his face, "he helped me pick up my books after school and he walked me home. I still remember the conversation, a discussion of our favourite comic book characters and the companies, DC and Marvel, who make them. I thought, when he'd dropped me at the front door, that that'd be it. But I got a call that night, right when I was ready to do it, and it was him again and despite my attempts to get him to leave me alone he persisted, and suddenly I was staying up talking to him until three in the morning and the urge was gone. That weekend, instead of ending my life, I started my new one. I was pulled into a social circle, I made friends, I was comforted and I _laughed_ for the first time in months." 

There's a sniff beside him, and Stiles takes a moment to look around and is surprised to see Erica crying softly. He clasps her hand and gives it a tight squeeze before looking to his right and he's surprised to see Laura looking at him, her eyes also shining with tears as she mouths a "thank you" in his direction. He has time to offer a small smile in reply before Derek's talking and his eyes flicker back to see him, to see the determination all but radiating from him. 

"He stayed with me. He didn't just help me get back out there, but he held my hand and coached me through it. I never told him about my thoughts, I never opened up unless necessary, but he never seemed to worry and just took what I could give," and Derek smiles again, but this time softly, "and we're still friends, maybe something more, and that's my point. That sometimes the greatest thing you can ever give someone is your friendship, your _love_ , because you never know what's happening to them or how it can impact you," there's a rumbling in the crowd but Stiles doesn't care as he's suddenly standing up and moving into the aisle, his eyes not leaving Derek as he starts walking forward. 

Derek smiles again, this time brighter than anything else, "thank you," he says before he's tearing way from the microphone and heading towards the front of the stage as Stiles breaks into a run. 

"Go Stiles!" is heard from the crowd, Scott if Stiles hears correctly, and there's a bout of laughter. Then he gets to the front and Derek's hands are on his forearms to tug him up and he laughs because of course he trips and sends them stumbling but he doesn't care because his hands are on Derek's cheeks, cheeks that are straining under the pressure of a giant grin. 

"You're a dork," he breathes and Derek presses their foreheads together. 

"And you're perfect," and then their lips are crashing together, and in the background Stiles can hear the cheers of the crowd and the wolf-whistling of his friends but it's just _background noise_ and he's too busy laughing as Derek hugs him and spins him in a circle in such a dorky romantic way that's just unbelievably perfect for them.

**Author's Note:**

> (based off of the fictional piece, The Story of Kyle)
> 
> [anyone else wanna come cry with me?](http://resacon1990.tumblr.com/)


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